


The Thing About Coffee Shops

by elvishoboist



Series: On Coffee Shops [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Lyrium Use, Minor Bastien de Ghislain/Vivienne, Minor Blackwall/Josephine Montilyet, Minor Cassandra Pentaghast/Varric Tethras, Minor Dagna/Sera - Freeform, Multi, Past Drug Addiction, Recreational Drug Use, University AU, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 12:08:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8285318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvishoboist/pseuds/elvishoboist
Summary: Coffee shops were the epitome of every cliché romantic story Cassandra was into and hence wanted for herself. It made sense that she worked in a coffee shop.
Coffee shops were always full of people talking, and no one noticed who was listening. Lilianna was a gossip and always wanted to know everything that was going on. It made sense that she worked in a coffee shop.
Coffee shops were nobody paid attention to anyone else in the shop. Dorian was from Tevinter and liked just watching without being watched. It made sense that he worked in a coffee shop.
Coffee shops were made up entirely of people and raw potential. Josephine needed to work that potential like she needed air to breathe. It made sense that she worked in a coffee shop.
The only thing Ahiem liked about coffee shops was the coffee that was served to her so she could make it through the day. It made no sense that she worked in a coffee shop.





	1. On Coffee Shops

If there was one thing Ahiem hated more than anything, it was being desperate. Right now, she was desperate. After Clan Lavellan was wiped out, Ahiem was left with no home, no family, and no money for college. Ahiem transferred to Skyhold University for her sophomore year of college, a clause in their scholarship policies allowing her to go to college without a Dalish Clan to back her. As one of two surviving members of the Clan, her options were limited. So, she moved in with her brother, leaving her in her present situation. Desperate for a job so she could pay her half of the rent.

Enter Dorian Pavus, Ahiem's best friend from her freshman year. Dorian transferred colleges, following after his best friend and adding more distance between him and his father. Dorian is a recovering Lyrium Addict and a hopeless romantic who makes no secret of wanting Ahiem's gorgeous older brother to sweep him off his feet.

This is the story of how they take on their first year in Ferledan.

* * *

"Welcome to Cassandra's Coffee! What can I get for you today?" A cheerful voice on the other side of the counter chirped at Ahiem as she walked up, hands stuffed in her pockets in nervousness.

"I'm Ahiem. The new employee?" Ahiem replied. "Cassandra hired me after a Skype interview?"

"Ah! yes! Cassandra mentioned you'd be in today! My name is Josephine. Leliana is in the back and Cassandra will be in around noon. Let's get you started!"

Ahiem could only reluctantly follow Josephine into the back to prepare for her shift.

* * *

 

"Welcome to Cassandra's Coffee! I'll be with you in a moment!" Ahiem called as she slipped into the stockroom to grab another bag of coffee.

"Ahiem! I didn't know you worked here!" Dorian was leaning against the counter when Ahiem reappeared with a bag of coffee.

"I've been working here for two months. I work mornings so I can pay my portion of the rent."

"Ahiem! Back to work!" Leliana shouted from back. "The rush will be here any moment!"

Ahiem sighed, starting to prepare for the lunch-time-rush. "Can I get you anything?" She asked, glancing up at Dorian.

"Surprise me?" Dorian asked. "First time here and all. I don't know what is good."

"Hate to disappoint, but we don't have any cute baristas for you to flirt with. We sort of only have five people working here. Cassandra is thinking about hiring more help."

"No cute baristas? Allow me to rectify that. I'd like a job application."

"You? Work? At a coffee shop?"

"I may not need the money, but working with you could be fun," Dorian shrugged, grinning at Ahiem when she stared at him in shock.

 "Leliana! Bring a job application?" Ahiem called.

"Shelf under the register!" Leliana called back.

"Thanks!" Ahiem shouted.

Dorian handed over his Credit Card with a flourish before taking the job application to begin filling it out.

Dorian was hired within the week.

* * *

 

Sera was Ahiem's favorite person to work with. Sera was not very good at customer service, but everyone enjoyed the coffee she would make, so no one took steps to get her fired.

Ahiem hated working with Josephine, and never saw eye to eye with the Antivan, or her boyfriend Thom. Josephine hovered and tried to micromanage Ahiem, which Ahiem thoroughly opposed.

Cassandra was fun to work with because she never stopped baking, so Ahiem was constantly being fed. Varric was fun to be around, and he stopped by while Cassandra was on shift to bother her. Cassandra always acted irritated with him, but Ahiem could see the genuine affection behind her eyes when she regarded her lover.

Rai'an always stopped by while Ahiem was on shift, bringing a group with him. Rai'an was popular and devastatingly attractive. Magic was as natural to him as breathing, so it was no surprise to Ahiem when he secured an assistant-ship to Vivienne de Fer, the mistress to the President of the University.

Dorian quickly became everyone's favorite employee. He was not great at making coffee, but he had all the wit, charm, and humor that had people thoroughly enjoying themselves the entire time they were in the shop.

For once in Ahiem's life, things were plesantly okay. So of course they wouldn't-couldn't stay that way.


	2. A Day in the Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahiem's daily life isn't so bad. Sure, she is bored. At least her Dalish Studies Class isn't so bad.

Ahiem was always the first one into Dalish Studies. It was her favorite class, maybe because it was an easy class for her, maybe because her classmates actually listened to her, maybe because the guy who sat next to her was cute. All the same, she loved it. Her professor was just "Solas" and he was an Elvhen Mage who had witnessed parts of Arlathan due to his travels in the fade. Ahiem could listen to him talk for hours. Solas seemed to have some of the older Ranger abilities, and even had a familiar. Solas's familiar was a large bird that Ahiem had never seen before. The bird called Ahiem "friend" constantly, and enjoyed sitting on her head and squawking at irregular intervals.

 Ahiem walked into the classroom, grinning at Harel lifted off of his perch and flew over to Ahiem.

"Friend!" Harel squawked, fluffing his wings as he looked at Solas.

"Harel!" Solas protested, glancing up at the bird and sighing. "Hello, Ahiem," He added.

"Solas," Ahiem greeted as she walked over to her seat. "Harel is going to be upset when I chose a familiar," She observed, laughing as the bird squawked in protest.

"He will indeed," Solas agreed, looking down at his lesson plans.

Dorian was the next to arrive, taking his seat on the one side of Ahiem, ignoring Harel's regular hiss.

"Dorian, your homework?" Solas asked, not looking up at the Vint.

"Of course, professor," Dorian replied, standing and putting his essay on Solas's desk.

Students began to filter in, each turning in their essay before taking their seats.

Garrett Hawke was always the last person to arrive, always slipping in as Solas was closing the door. Today was no different, though, the mage was clean shaven, drawing Ahiem's attention, causing her to disrupt Harel who took to flying around the classroom until all the essays were strewn about the room due to the breeze the bird's wings created.

"Times like this make me wish my familiar was a cat!" Solas exclaimed, glaring at the bird in irritation.

Harel landed on the desk and hissed at Solas, flaring out his wings before taking off and landing on Ahiem's head again.

"Alright, class, before Harel gets angry again, group projects. Pair off and I'll hand out rubrics. These presentations will be on Dalish Magic. Each rubric has a different topic associated with Dalish magic, and each pair must research this topic and do a presentation on it in a week. Next class period, I will bring in a few friends of mine for you to speak with about your topics. For today, pair up and consult the internet to see what you can find about your topic."

Solas went into his bag for the rubrics as Dorian made a lunge at Ahiem, throwing himself forward to wrap his arms around his friend. "Ahiem! My best friend! Work with me? Please?"

Harel hissed at Dorian before lifting off and flying to sit on Solas's head.

Solas glanced at Ahiem and Dorian before handing them a particular rubric. He ignored Harel as he moved about the room, handing out rubrics and answering questions.

"What did we get?" Dorian asked, looking at the rubric to see what the assignment was.

"He wants us to present on whether or not Ranger's abilities are considered magical," Ahiem replied, handing off the rubric and glancing at Harel.

"Professor?" Garrett called out, raising his hand to get Solas's attention. "Will you bring in a Keeper?"

"In a way, yes," Solas replied, moving to the front of the classroom and leaning against the desk. "The Keeper I intend to bring in was the first of his Clan until his Clan was wiped out. The death of the previous Keeper makes him a Keeper, however, he has no Clan to lead, so he falls in an odd sort of middle ground."

"Are there Dalish Blood Mages?" Another student asked.

"Of course there are!" Someone shot back.

"Professor Solas said it was frowned upon!"

"Ahiem? You are the resident Dalish. Care to answer?"

"Define Blood Magic," Ahiem started. "Do you mean using a little blood to fuel spells, like using a tiny bit of blood to start a fire? Or do you mean using blood to venture into Demonology?"

"Is there a difference?" Garrett spoke up.

"To the Dalish, yes. Most Dalish Mages know a little of what you call Blood Magic. Blood is very powerful and we Dalish will use it for simple things. Someone gets hurt and is bleeding? Use that blood to seal and heal the wound. One of the hunters cut their thumb while fletching arrows? Have them smear some blood on a stick and use that to start the cooking fire. Summon a demon? That is dumb and puts the whole Clan at risk. Bring harm to someone for blood for a Blood Magic ritual? Not okay. Also, you think these tattoos are going to stay this vibrant my whole life without needing work? Once the Blood Writing heals, it will stay the same until I die. I do not know or understand the entire process, but there is magic, and ink, and blood involved."

"Valislin means Blood Writing?" Someone asked.

Ahiem's nod stunned the class into silence.

The rest of the class passed in silence, as groups did some research and eventually filtered out of the classroom.

"Hey, Dorian? Ready to go to work? We can work on this during the lulls in customers," Ahiem said, standing and gathering her things.

"Sure, sure, let's get going. Cassandra is managing our shift today, so we shouldn't be late."

Ahiem nodded, waiting for Dorian to gather his things before the pair of friend headed out of the classroom and towards Cassandra's Coffee.

* * *

It was a busy day at the coffee shop, busy enough that Dorian and Ahiem had to call Cassandra out to help until Josephine's shift started. Ahiem hadn't paid attention to a conversation between Leliana and Cassandra, so, when they switched, Ahiem regarded them in surprise before turning back to my work at the counter.

Something bad always happened about half an hour after Cassandra left, usually between a customer and one of the two Elvhen employees. Sera was prone to putting salt in someone's drink if they harassed her enough, or called her a "knife ear." Cassandra added a complaint jar next to the door and requested that customers filled out a complaint for most instances involving Sera. Ahiem on the other had, just ignored rude customers, either by switching tasks with someone, or to step out and take a smoke break after a certain number of rude comments.

Today, Ahiem had been more than patient with everyone until she was able to discreetly move from the register to making drinks. In the middle of the rush between classes, Ahiem and Dorian manned the coffee machines, leaving Josephine to work the register, and only Dorian handed out coffees to students, leaving Ahiem out of contact with the other students.

"I'd like a chi latte, for here, almond milk, cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkled on the top, and no artificial sweetener. And not touched by the knife-ear."

"Sir, we do not allow customers to ask for certain employees to make their drinks," Josephine replied. "Your total is 5.50, either pay or take your business elsewhere."

"Fine. But the fucking knife-ear better make it right if it touches my drink."

Dorian saw Ahiem's ears twitch as she got out what was needed for the drink and quickly work her way through the steps of the drink. She passed the drink off to Dorian before moving on to the next order.

"Dickwad! Your chi latte!" Dorian shouted as he moved on to work on an order.

"Did the knife-ear ask you to call me that?"

"No, she did not. You're a prick and I decided to call you out on it," Dorian shot back.

"How do you get someone to stick up for you, knife-ear? You his little knife-eared whore?"

"I am gay, you piece of shit!"

"Dorian, don't," Ahiem muttered, handing out another drink before turning back to make more drinks.

"What did you say knife-ear?" 

Ahiem took a deep breath and steadily ignored the customer until he grew bored and went off to his seat.

"Dorian, you interfering makes it worse later. Just leave it."

"Ahiem! You can't let people speak to you like that!"

"He isn't worth the reaction," Ahiem replied with a shrug.

"What did you say knife-ear? I'm worth more than you are."

Ahiem glanced up and didn't reply, instead finishing up the last coffee front the rush between classes.

"Who did you open your legs to in order to get this job? Knife-ear? Hey! Knife-ear! I'm talking to you!"

Ahiem sighed before looking up. "Please go find a seat and let me get back to work."

"Tell you what, you let me fuck you and I won't file a complaint with the owner of this shop."

"Complaint box is by the door."

"I'll make sure you're fired if you don't let me use you the way all knife-ears should be used."

"I'm at work. Piss off and find someone else to bother," Ahiem snapped, collecting various blender parts and other things to be washed before turning her back on the customer.

That was when the customer threw the cup, using a spell to shatter it as it made contact with Ahiem's shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gives us a little perspective on how Rai'an and Ahiem grew up and will offer more insight to events later in the story. Next chapter we get to meet the illusive Rai'an.

**Author's Note:**

> I know this wasn't very exciting, but I promise things will pick up within the next couple chapters!


End file.
